Awareness of Consumers Rights- A study of Business and Service Class

Abstract

Today producers try to increase their sales by all possible means. Some of the means adopted to increase sales serve the interests of the producers but are against the interests of the consumers. Although government action is the only sure remedy for consumer protection, the importance of consumer awareness must be recognized. In the present study an attempt has been made to know the awareness of consumer rights among business and service class. The data generated from 200 customers was analyzed with the help of Mean, S.D. and ANOVA. The findings reveal that both classes are aware of the Consumer Protection Act which provides teeth against exploitation. But service class people are found more aware about their consumer rights in comparison to business class people. Both the classes are equally aware about the procedure of making an appeal. In case of exploitation, both classes generally go for self-regulation, consumer court, voluntary consumers' organization and contacting media. However, they differ about factors causing exploitation viz. wrong information, lack of rights awareness and limited supply of goods and services. Different awareness levels have also been noticed while making a purchase and keeping safe records of the same. Electronic media is playing a crucial role in making people aware of their rights. The study concluded that rigorous awareness programmers are required on the part of the government against the exploitation of consumers by sellers to create the awareness among different sections of the society.